Apparatus for automatically counting and registering



4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

H. MOHR. APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIGALLY GOUNTING AND REGISTERING RAILROAD TRUCKS.

Patented Mar. 20, 18

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. H. MOHR. APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIGALLY COUNTING AND REGISTERING om 8 00 1 .0 2 L m d 6 t w 1722/6722'071 Hermann 772057",

77?'fnesse s,

NY PETERS. waiu-Li ho m her, Washington. D. C.

{No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

H. MOHR. APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY GOUNTING AND REGISTERING RAILROAD TRUCKS.

No. 379,800. Patented Mar. 20, 1888.

N. PETERS. Pnowulhogn her. wnhin tnn, D. C. I

(No Model.) I 4 Sheets- Sheet 4.

H. MOHR. APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY COUNTING AND REGISTERING RAILROAD TRUGKS.

No. 379,800- Hq 'lat nted Mar! 0 1888' Q Q /I/JF A 4 Mgr). I 3 .0' Q if r I 2 Mi ATTORNEYS;

It PETERS. Halo-Lithographer. Wishinflon, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMANN MOHR, OF MANNHEIM, BADEN, GERMANY.

APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY COUNTING AND REGISTERING RAILROAD-TRUCKS.

(SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,800, dated March 20, 1888.

Application filed September 24, 1885. Serial No. 178,042. (No model.)

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN MOHR, a subject of the Grand Duke of Baden, residing at Mannheim in the Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire, have invented new and useful Improvements in Controlling Apparatus for Automatically Counting and Registering Railway Carriages, Trucks, and Similar Vehicles Passing Over It, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for registering the numberof railway-cars which pass over the track at a certain point in the line; and it consists, essentially, in arranging a portion of one of the rails constituting the track so that this portion is depressed when engaged by the wheels of the approaching car. Through its connection with a counter-lever, this yielding rail or railsection actuates the index-hand of a counter connected with the counter-lever. In order that each car may be registered only once, the counterlever is locked at each end of its vibration, and to unlock the counter-lever a second railsection is centrally pivoted and is vibrated bythe car-wheels as they engage with its respective arms, all of which is more fully pointed out in the following specification and claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section in the plane a: 00, Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 1 shows sectional views of detail parts. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the apparatus in the plane 3 1 Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the same in the plane 2 a, Fig. 1. Fig. 4C is a vertical section in the plane 00 .90, Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of the counter and its connections, drawn to alarger scale than the preceding figures. Fig. 6 is a face view of the same. Fig. 7 is an end view of the counter.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, the letter a designates an iron oasing,which is situated partially beneath the road-bed and is open to allow the passage of the rail or rail-section a, which is separate hereinafter term the yielding rail, is secured to a bracket or frame, a", that is secured to a shaft which has bearings in suitable sockets, a a, Fig. 2, extending from the bottom of the casing, so that when the car-wheels engage with this yielding rail the bracket or frame is turned about its hinges.

A is an upper casing supported upon tubular pillars P 1? P secured at their bases to the lower casing, a. In said casing A is located a lever, D, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, consisting of a straight arm, 01, having on one of its ends aknifehead provided with two knife-edges, d 01 Fig. 1. This knife-head is secured to the arm d at an inclination, so as to throw the knife-edges (1 d out of a vertical line. The lower knife-edge, 01 Fig. 1, bears upon suitable supports, d* (1*, rising from the bottom of the casing A, and the upper knife-edge, d, is engaged by a link, J, Figs. 1 and 3, on the upper end of a rod, ed. The rod 0& extends through the tubular pillar P and its lower end is c0nnected with the free end a, Figs. 1 and 4, of the bracket or frame 11 When the yielding rail 11 is depressed by a passing car, the stress exerted upon the upper knife-edge, 01, causes the lever D to turn about the lower knifeedge, W, as a fulcrum. The lever D, I shall hereinafter term the counterlever. arm (I of the counter-lever is of considerable length and carries an adjustable weight, 01 The are of vibration of this lever is limited'at its upper end by an adjusting-screw, d, the head of which comes into contact with a yokestop, d Figs. 1, 3, and 4, properly situated, and the lower end of the said screw is fixed by an adjusting-screw, d, Fig. 1, impinging upon a bloclgp, Fig. 1, on the bottom of the casing. The arm 01 is also connected by a lever, E, Fig. 3, and gears, or by any other well-known means, with the post of an index-hand of a counter, A, of the usual construction, so that the arm d actuates the counter by its vibrations.

. The counter and its actuating mechanism will be hereinafter more fully described.

As thus constructed, the apparatus will register cars which pass over the yielding rail; but it is necessary that the apparatus should not repeatedly register a car which passes and repasses the yielding rail. For this purpose I The employ the following mechanism: A vertical lever, f, Figs. 1, 1, 3, and 4., is pivoted at to lugs on the casing, and carries near its central portion aspringpressed latch-hook, d Fig. 1, especially, which engages and retains the arms (I. of leverD when said arm is in its highest position. A secondlatch -hook,d,pivoted to the upper endf*, of the lever f, locks the same when in its lowest position, so that a train can pass and rcpass without being registered more than once. To release the counter-lever from the latch-hooks, I make use of unlocking-levers D D, that are connected by rods b and Z) to the respective ends of a rocking bar, If, which is centrally secured to a shaft, I), having bearings in thelowcreasing, a. This shaft I) carries a rail-section, b, Fig. 1, which lies just beyond the counting-lever, and is centrally secured to the said shaft, so that when the railsection, which I shall hereinafter term the rocking rail or rail-section, is engaged and released by the wheels it is turned about its fulcrum.

The nnlocking-leverD has a knife-edge fulcrum, h, Fig. 1,which bears on supports it hon the casing, and a knife-edge-andlink connection, J,\vith the rod Z), precisely as those of lever D. The arm 0 of the lever D extends toward the right hand of the casing, and is provided with a weight, 71 Fig. 3, being limited in its swing by suitable stops. A vertical arm, 0*, Figs 1, 1, and 3, extending upward from the lever D near its fulcrum, carries an adjusting-screw, e,which engages with one end of a bolt, 1'', that has hearings in lugs secured to the casing, and is provided with a pin, f, engaging a slot in the upper end, f of the lever f. lVhen the car-wheels engage the end I) of the rocking rail 1)", the unlockinglever D is moved by the screw 0, so as to clear the hook (i from the lever D, which then falls to its lowest position,where it is engaged by the spring-pressed latch-hook d" on the lever 1", so that if the car is backed over the yielding rail the lever D cannot be vibrated. To release this latch-hook d,as the car-wheels leave the rocking rail, (when moving in the direction of arrow 1, Figs. 1 and 2,) I employ the unlocking-leverl)", which is constructed precisely like nnlockinglever D, having a kni fe-cdge fulcrunnh", which bears on supports 71", and is connected to the red I) by a link, j. The long arm g of this lever carries a weight, ligand its vertical arm 9* carries an adjustings crew, g, which engages the bolt f and throws the same inward to release latclrhook d from the counter-lever D, when the vibrating rail is depressed.

The general operation of the apparatus is as follows: \Vhen the car moves in the direction of arrow 1, the wheels depress the yielding rail to, and the arm (Z is thrown upward, in which position it is locked by the latchhook d, and the car is registered. As the carwheels depress the end If of the rocking rail, the hook (Z releases the lever D, and on its fall it is locked by latch-hook d. hen the wheels depress the end I) of the rocking rail, the latch-hook d releases the lever D, and the latter assumes its normal position. evident that by thus locking the counter-lever D both in its highest and lowest positions the car is registered once only, no matter how many times it may act on the lever system. If the car strikes the rail-sections when moving in a direction opposite to arrow 1., it is not registered, because when the end If of the rocking rail is depressed the lock d remains disengaged from the lever D, and as the wheels depress the end I) of the same the hook (i locks the lever. Vhen the wheels now strike the yielding rail, the lever D cannot vibrate. By properly adjusting the weights and the ratio of the lever-ar1ns,the apparatus can be caused to register loaded cars only,unloaded cars not disturbing the lever system.

As shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, the lever B is secured at one end to the spindle r of the counter A and connected at its other end to a crank-arm, 0, attached to a pivot, r. The lever A is attached at or near its center to the front end of the arm cl of the counter-lever D. XVhen said lever D is vibrated, the spindle r is turned to actuate the counter.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the rail-section a, a frame supporting the same, a lever, as D, connected with said frame, locks, as d d, for engaging the lever D, and a rail-section, 1), connected with said locks for releasing the lever D, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of the hinged frame, a rail-section supported by the same, a lever, as D, connected with the frame, locks, as d" d, for engaging the lever D, and a pivoted rocking rail-section, b, connected with the locks, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination of the detached rail-section a the hinged frame supporting the same, a counter, A, the counter-lever D, connected with said frame and said counter, the rocking rail-section I), the arm f, carrying latch-hooks engaging the lever D, and the connections between said arm and the said section If, substantially as shown and described.

at. The combination of the detached rail-section ed, the hinged frame supporting the sa me, the weighted counter-lever D, having knifeedge bearings, the rod a, connecting the counter-lever D with the supporting-frame, the rocking rail-section b centrally pivoted to a shaft, the rocking bar If on said shaft, the unlocking-levers D D", connected by rods 1) b with the ends of the rock-bar, the arm f, the latch-hooks (Z d thereon, adapted to look the lever D, and the bolt f, engaged by the levers D D to vibrate the arm f and release the lever D, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination of the detached rail-seetion (4 the hinged supporting-frame for the Itissame, a counter, A, the weighted counter-lef, engaged by the levers D D to vibrate the 10 ver D, connected with the supporting-frame arm f, substantially as shown and described. and said counter, means, as described, for ad- In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name justing its vibrations, the rocking rail-section to this specification in the presence of two sub- 5 If, the rock-bar b, connected therewith, the scribing witnesses.

unlocking-levers D D connected with the HERMANN MOHR. rock-bars, means for adjusting their vibra- Witnesses: v tions, the arm f, carrying latch-hooks d OSCAR BUNDsoHUTz,

constructed to look the lever D, and the bolt HUGO FLijssEL. 

